 | The Triumphs of Love and Honour |  |
10
The PROLOGUE,
Written by Sir Robert Henley, Bart. And spoke by Mr WILLIAM MILLS.
The
tragic Muse, full twice a thousand Years,
In the big Scene has rais'd our Hopes and Fears;
By unexpected Turns she gives Surprise;
Now Joy she gives, then fills with Tears the Eyes;
A War of Passions in their Breasts they feel,
As the Muse fires, who have not Hearts of Steel.
In the big Scene has rais'd our Hopes and Fears;
By unexpected Turns she gives Surprise;
Now Joy she gives, then fills with Tears the Eyes;
A War of Passions in their Breasts they feel,
As the Muse fires, who have not Hearts of Steel.
Old Æschylus, in tragic Numbers bold,
The Griefs of Mortals, and Immortals, told;
He, leaving Nature and terrestrial Plains,
Sung Jove's Revenge, and bound the Gods in Chains.
Next Sophocles, majestic in his Rage,
To Admiration charms a knowing Age;
In all the Pomp of Words He greatly sings
The Wreck of Empires, and the Woes of Kings.
Euripides, sententious and serene,
Bright, tho not blazing, grac'd the tragic Scene.
The Griefs of Mortals, and Immortals, told;
He, leaving Nature and terrestrial Plains,
Sung Jove's Revenge, and bound the Gods in Chains.
Next Sophocles, majestic in his Rage,
To Admiration charms a knowing Age;
In all the Pomp of Words He greatly sings
The Wreck of Empires, and the Woes of Kings.
Euripides, sententious and serene,
Bright, tho not blazing, grac'd the tragic Scene.
Proud Rome, that gather'd of old Greece the Store,
Compar'd with her, in Tragedy was poor;
In Nero's Reign the moralizing Sage
Drew but faint Copys of the Greecian Page.
Compar'd with her, in Tragedy was poor;
In Nero's Reign the moralizing Sage
Drew but faint Copys of the Greecian Page.
To these succeeds a Race of monkish Days,
In which no learned Brow was crown'd with Bays;
One dismal Cent'ry to another yields;
No Sound is hear'd but the loud Clash of shields.
Huns, Goths, and Vandals, from the northern Clime,
Swarm o'er the Earth, and fright the Land of Rhyme:
Mute are the Nine; Virtue and Learning sleep,
While War and Zeal their wakeful Vigils keep.
In which no learned Brow was crown'd with Bays;
11
No Sound is hear'd but the loud Clash of shields.
Huns, Goths, and Vandals, from the northern Clime,
Swarm o'er the Earth, and fright the Land of Rhyme:
Mute are the Nine; Virtue and Learning sleep,
While War and Zeal their wakeful Vigils keep.
At length the tragic Muse again appears,
And gives the Promise of successful Years;
Britain and France the sacred Influence feel
From Shakespeare, Fletcher, and the great Corneille.
Their bright Examples other Bards inspire,
And to the Road of Fame their Bosoms fire:
In Virtue's Cause the Sons of Verse engage,
And most instructing most they charm the Age.
And gives the Promise of successful Years;
Britain and France the sacred Influence feel
From Shakespeare, Fletcher, and the great Corneille.
Their bright Examples other Bards inspire,
And to the Road of Fame their Bosoms fire:
In Virtue's Cause the Sons of Verse engage,
And most instructing most they charm the Age.
This Night our Bard the glorious Tract pursues;
New to the Stage he courts the tragic Muse;
By an invented Tale, a Tale of Love,
Without the Guilt of Blood he strives to move;
To their own Peace he shews the Parents blind,
Who disunite the Hearts which Love has join'd;
With Candour he intreats ye to attend,
And begs no Favour but as Virtue's Friend.
New to the Stage he courts the tragic Muse;
By an invented Tale, a Tale of Love,
Without the Guilt of Blood he strives to move;
To their own Peace he shews the Parents blind,
Who disunite the Hearts which Love has join'd;
With Candour he intreats ye to attend,
And begs no Favour but as Virtue's Friend.
| The Triumphs of Love and Honour | |